He'll share his decorations and thousands upon thousands of lights during a special Christmas show in his front yard at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29. His address is 49 California Avenue, Beaumont.

The world is invited. Admission is free. There will be a VIP up-front section with charitable donations made instead of admission being charged. The donations will go to youth programs supported by the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Rotary Club Foundation.

Castaldo said he set up the VIP section because recording artist, Judy Pancoast, agreed to perform for free if the proceeds benefited charity and her expenses were covered. People can attend the night of lights and music outside the VIP section at no charge. Castaldo is expecting such a big crowd that California Avenue, a popular alternative route between Highway 79 in south Beaumont and Interstate 10, will be closed.

Castaldo, a most enthusiastic man, went light-decorating wacky. His decorations definitely would be a highlight on my annual San Jacinto Valley Christmas lights tour if he moved down Highway 79 to the Hemet-San Jacinto area.

In the past year, he attended light-decorating workshops in Chicago and San Diego. He added about 5,000 lights and a large electric train to the tens of thousands of lights that beamed last year. Thursday should be a festive, and very bright, evening on California Avenue.

RAT NIPS HOLIDAY PLANS

Of all the Thanksgiving messages on Facebook â" which mostly were about family happiness, football and eating a lot â" a tale of holiday calamity written by Nuview Bridge Early College High School English teacher Sybel Alger stood out.

She described how an act of kindness turned very bad for her husband, attorney Edward Strelow, and waylaid their Thanksgiving plans.

âOur camping plans have been upended, so weâre actually spending T-day at home watching football,â she wrote. âTo make a long story short, one of our rescue rats bit the back of Edâs hand several times. The hand swelled so badly that he canât get his wedding ring off. Kaiser diagnosed an infection, so heâs on antibiotics. Weâre hoping it will improve enough to try again tomorrow, but if not, we might do a day trip to Joshua Tree on Saturday.

âOh, well. Thereâs still plenty to be thankful for, including a great husband, two fabulous daughters, a wonderful extended family, many friends, and a fulfilling job. Happy Thanksgiving to all.â

Poor Ed. What a way to spend Thanksgiving.

WIDOE WIDOE LUCKY LUCKY

Kathi Anderson, who lives in the hills above Hemet, readily believes that the worldâs luckiest Chihuahua, Widoe Widoe, very well could have been snatched by a bird of prey.

Bambi Galloway, who took in the Chihuahua on Nov. 14 after Widoe Widoe was abandoned in a San Jacinto dumpster, thinks the tiny dog was nabbed from her fenced yard by an owl Nov. 15. The dog was missing when she returned to her Valle Vista home from work at her Hangar 1 Cafe at Hemet-Ryan Airport. Jeff Eichel found the little dog in his garage in Valle Vista that night. The dog appeared to have wounds from talons on her back and leg injuries that could have been suffered by being dropped from the sky.

After Eichel and his wife, Carol, cared for Widoe Widoeâs injuries, he returned the dog to Galloway. He learned through my column that the Chihuahua was missing.

Owls, hawks and eagles are natural residents of the San Jacinto Valley and hunt for food like rabbits that are about the size of Widoe Widoe. Pet owners should be alert.

Anderson, who lives in the hills above Hemet, notices the attention paid by hunting birds to the Siberian Huskies that she raises and shows. She knows it is important to be vigilant when small pets like Widoe Widoe are outdoors.

âWe have owls and hawks as well,â she wrote. âHave to be on full alert when bringing puppies out into the courtyard. Never fails. Within minutes we have birds of prey circling low to eyeball potential prey. Widoe Widoe is Lucky Lucky!â

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